OAKLAND, CALIF. — For the first time in years, the Oakland A’s have opened the upper deck at the three-deck Coliseum, thereby increasing capacity from about 35,000 to about 48,000. It could be even louder there for Game 1 tonight (9:37 p.m., TBS) than during last year’s Detroit Tigers-A’s series, although that is hard to imagine.

“That is the exciting part about postseason baseball — it’s great for a city to come together and be excited about something like that,” Tigers leftfielder Andy Dirks said. “We appreciate it as players on both sides that people want to come out and enjoy a baseball game and get after it and not just sit there and watch the game, but be an active participant by cheering for their players and making a lot of noise.

“It’s exciting for everybody when the atmosphere is like that. Those are special moments in baseball.

“It was crazy last year,” Dirks said. “But every year is a little different. We’ll know after Game 1 how they’re going to act.”

The Tigers found out in last year’s first-round series how intense the A’s crowd can be. Unlike most baseball audiences in the United States, it didn’t wait for something to happen to cheer, or even for a two-strike count on an opposing batter. It was loud from the first pitch onward. It roared even when the A’s were behind, noted Tigers star Miguel Cabrera.

It was mentioned to Dirks that the crowd in Pittsburgh for the NL wild-card game this week was one of the most overwhelming in a long time in baseball.

“People who were at a game like that will remember that forever,” Dirks said. “So will the players, because in our sport, we play so many games. Throughout the season, the fans can’t go nuts every single night. So when you get to the postseason and it’s boiled down to a few games, rather than an extended period, that’s when they can really come out and cheer and let it all hang out.

“It will be fun.”

Dirks said playing in front of a large and raucous crowd removes one audio distraction. He can’t hear the handful of fans who perhaps have shown up committed to sending one harangue after another in his direction.

“When ballparks don’t have a lot of people in them, that’s when you can hear hecklers,” he said. “Ballparks that are packed and rocking, you don’t hear hecklers. You hear everything. So it’s exciting.”

Dirks vs. Colon: If Jim Leyland weighed whether to start Dirks or Jhonny Peralta in leftfield tonight, Dirks had an edge. He enters the game 4-for-8 lifetime off right-hander Bartolo Colon, while Peralta is 2-for-11. Leyland said Dirks will start tonight against Colon, the A’s ace.

“He throws a lot of fastballs,” Dirks said. “He’s not afraid to come after you. He doesn’t give in. He’s not a guy who says, ‘I might need to throw a curveball here.’ He goes with his best pitch when he needs it. His fastball moves a lot.”

Contact John Lowe: jlowe@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @freeptigers.